An Angel in the Dark

Chapter 9

Darcy

         There was no escape. I had scoured the entire cell, leaving no stone unturned, but there wasn’t even a single crack in the wall. I curled myself up against the barely existent corner and forced myself to abstain from collapsing into tears. I banged my head against the wall behind me, but it just sank into the padding. I was utterly and completely trapped. I hated that mean old nurse. It was her fault I was in here. She hadn’t even given me a chance to explain what I had meant. It was all a great big misunderstanding. She was a terrible person and a poor excuse for a nurse.

         She treated me like a lunatic, thinking that only a “soothing” voice would tranquilize me enough that she could lead me to the cell unruffled.  “Don’t worry dear, you’ll only be in here until your parents arrive and you can be evaluated,” she had told me in a voice that was obviously meant to be soothing. But it was anything but soothing, just like the rest of her. Her gravelly voice always made me want to cover my ears the very moment it pierced the air. Her piercing blue eyes were dark like a stormy sea, and I wanted to turn away when they held me in their grasp. Her hair was died bleach blonde, but her roots were a dark brown. Her skin was so pale it was as if she had never seen the daylight, and she was very chubby if not obese. Her shoulders were broad and she was strongly built. Through her heavy makeup, you could still easily make out the many wrinkles covering her face. The way she looked easily matched the way she acted. She was so haughty, thinking she was better and smarter than everyone else, and she quite obviously tried too hard. My father was a lawyer, and when he heard about this… Oh, that nurse would get what was coming to her!

         I had to escape. I had to find Lydia and tell her Melanie was in there before it was too late. At this point, it would be my fault if Melanie died. I pulled myself up off the floor and peered through the tinted window in the padded door. There was a woman approaching the door, but the window was so dark I could only make out her thin silhouette.

         The door sprang open, and I came face to face with Lydia.

         “Darcy, what are you doing here??” Lydia pulled me into a bear hug. Her hair smelled like strawberries, and I felt safe with her. She wasn’t much older than I, but around her I felt like a child again, and I liked it.

         “It was all a big misunderstanding!” I cried out, gripping her blue uniform with my short, bitten fingernails.

         “I saw your name in the book,” Lydia looked me in the eyes, and I suddenly knew everything was going to be alright. “I’ll have to have a few words with Maria. She’s rather new here, and you didn’t deserve to be locked away like this. Come, I’ll take you home.” She grabbed my shaky hand and started to walk towards the door, but I pulled away from her loose grasp.

         “No, what about Melanie??” I cried out.

         “I’m sorry,” Lydia whispered, “but it’s over for Melanie. She’s been in a coma for too long, and there’s practically no hope for her anymore. I tried to hold on- for you, but in about an hour the doctor will pull the chord.”

         “But her hand moved! I saw it!”

         “Are you sure?” Lydia looked skeptical. “If that’s true, we have to save her. Let’s go.” This time when she grabbed my hand, I followed obediently behind her.